Today's the day for Devils to deliver

LEOMINSTER -- Leominster first-year baseball coach Rich Barnaby says "it's one more game to be special."

One more victory and the Leominster High baseball team can call itself Division 1 state champions.

"We have one game to cement what we've been working at all year," said Barnaby, whose 20-4 Blue Devils face Norwood at 6 p.m. Saturday at Holy Cross' Fitton Field for the Division 1 state championship. "It's been a long season and a lot of tough opponents, but we put ourselves in a position where we met last June after a disappointing district final game and talked to the underclassman that this is the goal we set for ourselves. Now we have one game and 21 outs to achieve that.

"It's been great, a lot of hard work has been put into this and it's gratifying, but we still have got those 21 outs to get."

The road hasn't come easy for Leominster, which struggled early at 2-2, but has been rolling since late April, winning 16 out of its last 17 games, including allowing only four runs during this tournament run.

"It's a team that has had each others' backs all year and has played with confidence and hasn't let adversity get to them," said Barnaby, who had larger-than-life shoes to fill after legendary Hall of Fame coach Emile Johnson retired last season after losing in the Central Mass. Division 1 title game. "I'm hoping we can put it out there one more time in a big game and come out with a victory.

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It's been a total team approach for Leominster, however.

Leominster does feature one of the best players in Central Mass. -- and maybe the state -- in senior ace pitcher and talented hitter Neil O'Connor, but it also has several key contributors that make Leominster a battle-tested and fearless ballclub.

"We've been playing together every since we were in Little League, and we have so much more chemistry than the past years," Leominster senior center fielder Brett Corliss said. "There's no one playing as individuals and we know each other so well, it's just a different atmosphere.

"Neil does get most of the headlines, but we kind of brush it aside. We know Neil wouldn't be able to get the headlines if it wasn't for us backing him up. He's played well all year and we're happy for him, but we're playing as a team and know if we didn't have each other we'd fall apart."

Barnaby loves the way this team plays as a unit. Leominster is a small-ball team that puts pressure on opposing defenses, and also understands the importance of flashing the leather consistently.

"Neil gets all the attention -- that's all the newspaper wants to talk about -- but we hit one through nine and we play defense behind him," Barnaby said. "Baseball is a team game. I think we have probably the best player in the state with us, but in the end, you don't make it to the state title game without a total team effort."

And as a team, Norwood (16-9) has come on strong late in the season as well, including edging Andover, 2-1, in a state semifinal.

"We're definitely respecting what they're bringing," Barnaby said. "They've been hot to end the season, and you don't roll through a tough Eastern bracket, winning five, six, seven games in a row, without being a top team. They will have our full attention on Saturday."

Barnaby, despite being a rookie coach, has experience playing in tournament games and even winning a state championship. In 1996, as a member of Leominster High, Barnaby manned third base and experienced all the joys of winning a state title after beating Peabody, 5-4, at Fino Field in Milford for the D1 state championship.

And on Fitton Field, Leominster won its Central Mass. title that same year, 3-2, against St. John's.

"That team took the same approach that we do, it's just one-pitch-at-a-time approach," Barnaby said. "We never got ahead of ourselves. We knew we had a talented team, but we never looked ahead of anyone. We've taken that approach all year. I think we're so focused on the goal, I don't think we're going to be nervous. We're going to have fun and we're excited to show the rest of the state that we can play baseball."

From the first day of spring practice, Leominster hasn't been afraid to talk about winning a state championship. That's been the Blue Devils' goal all along, although winning a league title for the first time since 1999 and earning the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the CMass. playoffs was also high on the to-do list.

"It's tremendous baseball in Leominster, but this is also a special class of seniors and juniors," Barnaby said. "The had a great football season and came up a little bit short, had a great basketball season and ran into another tough team, so I think they wanted to finish their senior year and didn't want to go out quietly. They wanted to finish it with something special. This group wasn't going to be happy with anything less than a state title."

Johnson, who has coached Leominster to three state championships (1986, 1988, 1996), was on hand briefly at practice Thursday and has followed the team closely during its tremendous run to the state title game.

"I'm very proud of what the coaches have done and what the kids have done," Johnson said. "They've responded to Rich's coaching. We have a little different style from the big mouth to the little quiet type of individual, but you still can get your point across no matter which way you're going. The kids have responded and have gotten better as the season has gone on.

"The defense has been terrific and they've come up with some timely hits. The last 10-12 games, they've played terrific baseball. From my standpoint, I've been very, very happy and pleased that the kids have responded."

Leominster's team ERA is a minuscule 1.30 -- with the help of No. 2 starter Tanner Jakola -- while Leominster's team batting average is .322.

Leominster's been extremely dominant at times, outscoring its opponents, 162-55, this season.

"Everyone has their role and has to do their part," Lever said. "We've got to execute each role and win a game. Everyone has a part. Neil is obviously the big pitcher for us, but we've got a good 'D' behind him and we've got a good lineup one through nine and bench players that can do the job, too."

Playing a strong, total team game is going to be huge if Leominster wants to win another state title.

"You've got to do all the little things right, field ground balls and execute bunts," Lever said. "We're going to go out fired up and play how we normally play. We're going to play some hard baseball, and hopefully come out with a win."

Leominster's recent postseason failures would make this state title even more special, says Corliss.

"It would mean the world," he said. "I've been with the team for playoffs for four years and we came up short in the semifinals twice in my first couple of years and we lost in the final last year which was terrible, but we finally clinched the districts and we don't want to stop here. We're feeling hot."

It's also a chance to join elite Leominster state championship company for this 2014 team.

"That's the past. It's a lot of history, but we want to write our own history," Corliss said. "We want to a be a part of that, and we know what it would mean for this town."

This senior-laden squad understands the importance on leaving its mark on the program and walking away from their high school careers as champs.

"I think we're playing with a lot of confidence and we're clicking and playing good baseball," O'Connor said. "It's our last game playing for Leominster, whether we like it or not, but the one good thing about it is we have a chance to win our last game and not a lot of people can do that. We're excited and we wouldn't want it to go down any other way than winning our last game for Leominster."

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